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Getting a Loved One into Rehab: How to Get Someone in Rehab that Doesn’t Want to Go

Addiction doesn’t just take a toll on the addict, but also the addict’s friends and family. It can hurt to watch as a loved one falls into the same destructive behaviors and compulsions that have taken so many other lives. This process leaves many people wondering if they have no choice but to stand back and watch, or is there a process that makes getting a loved one into rehab any easier? While there may be no way to force someone into treatment who doesn’t want it, there are ways to help push them towards taking the steps on their own.

You may have heard it said before, but willingness is an important part of recovery. While some substance abusers may come around to the idea of treatment while engaging in court ordered or family forced care, it is not nearly as effective as treatment that is sought out by the addict themselves. Helping someone through sobriety who is an unwilling addict is a lot like teaching calculus to a student who doesn’t care about math. It’s possible, but you’re starting at a huge disadvantage. When getting a loved one into rehab, there are a number of steps you can take to start them on the path.

1) Learn about Addiction and How It Affects Addict’s Behavior

By reading this article, you’re already starting to work on this step, but there are a number of great resources concerned family members can turn to in order to educated themselves about addiction. Something that’s extremely helpful when trying to learn how to get someone to go to rehab that doesn’t want to go is educating yourself as much as possible. A great example of this would be the addiction support group Al-Anon. This group helps family members meet and share with other people whose loved ones are suffering from addiction. This helps facilitate a level of understanding between the addict and the friends and family that are trying to figure out how to get someone to go to rehab for alcohol or drugs.

2) Perform an Intervention

While interventions may seem like a stereotypical way of getting a loved one into rehab, they have a real world impact on numerous addicts all over the globe. By performing an intervention, you are not only letting the addict know that you see what is happening to them, you are letting them know that you want to see them improve and better themselves. For this reason, numerous people see interventions as the real world answer to the question “how to get someone in rehab that doesn’t want to go?” However, before you get involved in an intervention, it is important to prepared– do not go into an intervention without a plan. In many cases, interventions can open an addict’s mind to the idea of rehabilitation, but this interest and willingness will fade, given time. That’s why it is important to begin attacking the root causes of addiction as soon as an addict shows openness to going to treatment. This very sentiment inspires another answer to the common question, “how to get someone in rehab that doesn’t want to go?”

3) Stop Enabling an Addict’s Addiction

This is one of the hardest steps for friends and family of someone struggling with addiction, especially for the parents of an addict. When professionals use the word “enabling”, many people immediately become lost and do not understand what it exactly means. Enabling is the support of an addiction, either through direct means or simply by allowing it to happen. This means making idle threats that are never backed up, providing for addicts financially, through transportation, or even housing. It’s understandable when you put it into perspective– parents always want to take care of their children, they want to see them with roof over their head, a job, and a healthy and happy lifestyle. However, at times, this can turn into hurtful support for the addict. Giving them financial support while they’re using helps them fund and continue their habit, keeping you further and further away from getting a loved one into rehab. It allows them to think what they’re doing is okay since you know it’s going on and you’re doing nothing except helping the addict, enabling their addiction. Providing housing even when they are refusing treatment and showing no interest in living under your rules, including drug-free policies is again keeping you further and further away from getting a loved one into rehab.

Getting a loved one into rehab can be a hard and emotionally taxing process, but with the proper guidance and education, the process can be much easier than most people think. Questions like “how to get someone to go to rehab for alcohol” and “how to get someone in rehab that doesn’t want to go” come up during consultations all the time, so if you need more in depth advice, or help searching for rehab facilities, don’t hesitate to call Better Addiction Care at (800) 429-7690.

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